Hardaway joining Magic’s greats
Penny Hardaway will be inducted into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame this month, team officials said Thursday.
The induction ceremony will be held Jan. 20, and Hardaway will be honored during the Magic’s game that night against the Milwaukee Bucks at Amway Center.
Hardaway will be the Magic’s lone inductee this season and will join four prior honorees in the team’s Hall of Fame.
Franchise co-founder Pat Williams and Nick Anderson were the inaugural hon- orees during the 2013-14 season. The following year, the team enshrined Shaquille O’Neal. Last season, the team inducted franchise owner Rich DeVos.
The Magic acquired Hardaway, a 6-foot-7 point guard, in a blockbuster draft-night trade in 1993. He quickly established himself as one of the sport’s best players at his position.
Hardaway and O’Neal led the Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals, where the team was swept by the defending champion Houston Rockets.
Hardaway earned firstteam All-NBA honors during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons and third-team AllNBA honors during the 1996-97 season.
Injuries soon diminished his effectiveness. The Magic traded him in August 1999 after six seasons.
The split was acrimonious, but any lingering hard feelings have been buried.
In 2015, Hardaway said he wished he never left the Magic.
“Hindsight is 20-20,” Hardaway said. “Orlando was my team, and then in hindsight, you never leave your team for another team. But at the time, I wanted to go play with Jason Kidd, which was a great reason for me to leave Orlando, and I felt like my time had passed with the Magic and it was time for a new chapter.
“But in hindsight, you never leave your team. Orlando was my team.”